Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Gov. Hochul pitches school cellphone ban in $252 billion state budget
By
Jimmy Vielkind
Published Jan 21, 2025
Modified Jan 21, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Will Waldron/Albany Times Union via Getty Images
By
Jimmy Vielkind
Published Jan 21, 2025
Modified Jan 21, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is including funding to help school districts secure students’ cellphones as part of her $252 billion state budget proposal released on Tuesday.
The plan would direct school districts to come up with their own policies to separate students from mobile devices “from bell to bell,” said Blake Washington, Hochul’s budget director. The Democratic governor has said for months that she wants children to put down phones at school.
The proposal is one piece of an omnibus spending package the governor put forth on Tuesday, kicking off a process in which the state passes much of the year’s most important legislation. In the coming weeks, the state Senate and Assembly will offer their own proposals. They and Hochul will negotiate any differences before a final budget is voted on and signed.
This year’s budget proposal reflects relative financial health for New York, Washington said. State officials last fall were projecting a roughly $1 billion deficit for the coming fiscal year, which begins on April 1. But a better-than-expected economy — including strong profits by Wall Street firms — have brightened the fiscal picture.
The result is a $5.3 billion surplus that Hochul is proposing to spend on rebate checks for taxpayers (totaling $3 billion this year), an income-tax cut to be phased in over the next two years and an expanded child tax credit, among other items.
Tax rates would eventually fall by two-tenths of a percentage point for joint filers reporting less than $323,000 in income, Washington said. Hochul previously said this would result in “hundreds” of dollars of savings.
The governor’s budget proposal includes a planned 4.7% increase in school aid, as well as more money for Medicaid, which provides health care for low-income people.
Higher costs for Medicaid, which is jointly funded by the state and federal governments, burst beyond the levels allocated in last year’s state budget. Washington said some of the higher spending was due to the expiration of COVID-related federal aid programs, along with the fact that about 900,000 more people have enrolled in the program since before the pandemic.
Hochul is turning away from her proposal last year to overhaul the formula by which school aid is distributed, which could have reduced funding to some districts as the number of pupils dropped. She also wants to offer grants totaling $13.5 million to school districts to defray the cost of securing cellphones.
Andrew Rein, president of the fiscal watchdog Citizens Budget Commission, said the surplus funds could be directed in ways that would help the state save more money in the long term. But he acknowledged it is more popular to send checks to voters than fix sewers or pay down debt.
“This is an election-year budget starting a year early,” Rein said.
Perennial fights over issues like school foundation aid and funding for social service programs tend to dominate the governor’s negotiations with legislators in the state Assembly and Senate, both of which are controlled by Hochul’s fellow Democrats.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat from the Bronx, said he thought Hochul’s proposal was a good starting place.
“The hell is in the details,” he said. “ But I would say this budget is a great start. There's not anything that jumps out to me that's problematic.”
Washington said Hochul would extend for five years higher tax rates on people reporting more than $1 million in income. That surcharge, which was enacted in 2021, means millionaires living in New York City currently pay the highest level of combined state and local income taxes in the nation.
Republicans faulted Hochul for doing little to restrain spending. Assemblyman Ed Ra, a Republican from Nassau County, noted that there are growing deficits over the next several years, including an $11 billion projected shortfall in 2029.
“Tax receipts have been very strong. That's a good thing. But my fear is, what happens when the bottom drops out?” Ra said.
Progressive groups say tax hikes are politically popular and could help make the governor’s proposals for child tax credits and universal school meals more sustainable over time. Michael Kink, executive director of the Strong Economy for All Coalition, said doing so would help Hochul claim the mantle of populism.
“Democrats need a real fight against real villains,” he said. “Taxing the super-rich and wealthy corporations, redistributing that wealth into tax breaks and tax credits and robust funding for services for regular working people, I think that’s a recipe for success.”
The proposed budget doesn’t include any new money for New York City to defray the cost of caring for asylum seekers, but Washington said there are resources that were already appropriated and could still be spent.
Hanging over the state’s budget is the threat of federal cuts to programs like Medicaid. Washington said if Congress enacts major changes, New York would face difficult choices.
Hochul said citizens should focus their voices on Congress to preserve programs amid a “cloud of uncertainty.”
“New York and other states will simply not be able to shoulder these costs on our own,” she said.
Tagged
education
new york state
economy
Kathy Hochul
Politics
Jimmy Vielkind
Jimmy Vielkind covers how state government and politics affect people throughout New York. He has covered Albany since 2008, most recently as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Jimmy led a team of reporters that won a New York Press Club award for coverage of Andrew Cuomo’s downfall and was on a team that won a Gerald Loeb Award for coverage of Amazon’s HQ2 process. A native of the Capitol Region, Jimmy has two degrees in urban planning. His position is funded by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Reach Jimmy at [email protected].
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Mamdani names re-entry specialist as chair of Rikers oversight board
Christopher Watler will help the department that a federal monitor says remains in crisis.
By
Ryan Kost
Published Oct 6, 2026 at 3:52 p.m. ET
NYC weighs expanding upstate reservoir following drought
The Delaware River Basin Commission is evaluating options to increase water storage, including expanding a reservoir in New York City.
By
Rosemary Misdary
News
NYC weighs expanding upstate reservoir following drought
The Delaware River Basin Commission is evaluating options to increase water storage, including expanding a reservoir in New York City.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Legionella found in Staten Island building's water system after 2 positive cases
By
Catalina Gonella
Legal 'loophole' helps NY Gov. Kathy Hochul, Bruce Blakeman raise millions
By
Jon Campbell
Police identify 2 men wanted for stabbing an off-duty NYPD officer
By
Ben Feuerherd
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .